Belmont Bruins (15-6, 8-2 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (4-17, 0-10 MVC)
Evansville, Indiana; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Belmont faces the Evansville Purple Aces after Ben Sheppard scored 23 points in Belmont's 78-76 victory against the Bradley Braves.
The Purple Aces are 2-6 in home games. Evansville is 4- when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 12.4 turnovers per game.
The Bruins are 8-2 against MVC opponents. Belmont ranks second in college basketball in 3-point percentage, shooting 40.4% as a team from downtown this season. Drew Friberg leads them shooting 48.7% from 3-point range.
The Purple Aces and Bruins match up Wednesday for the first time in MVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kenny Strawbridge is scoring 15.3 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Purple Aces. Marvin Coleman is averaging 10.7 points and 5.3 rebounds over the last 10 games for Evansville.
Friberg averages 3.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Bruins, scoring 12.9 points while shooting 48.7% from beyond the arc. Sheppard is shooting 46.2% and averaging 18.5 points over the last 10 games for Belmont.
LAST 10 GAMES: Purple Aces: 1-9, averaging 63.5 points, 27.2 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 6.4 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 41.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.4 points per game.
Bruins: 9-1, averaging 72.9 points, 29.1 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.2 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
